Western Digital does not want Hynnix involved in Toshiba's sale

TOKYO: Western Digital Corp has told Toshiba Corp that it will not agree to a sale of the Japanese conglomerate’s prized memory chip unit to a preferred bidding consortium that includes rival chipmaker SK Hynix Inc.

Western Digital, which jointly runs Toshiba’s main semiconductor plant, has been feuding bitterly with its Japanese partner over the sale of the world’s No. 2 producer of NAND chips and has sought a US cour t injunction to prevent any deal that does not have its consent.

The tensions come amid uncertainty over whether Toshiba can sign as planned a definitive agreement with its preferred bidder — a group led by the Japanese government and including US PE firm Bain Capital — by Wednesday, the day of its annual shareholders meeting. The conglomerate is rushing to sell the unit to cover billions of dollars in cost overruns at its bankrupt Westinghouse nuclear unit and to dig itself out of negative shareholders’ equity that could lead to a delisting.

Several people ET spoke with about Ericsson’s India operations, including its current and former employees, said the Stockholm-based firm has reduced headcount in the last one year or so across functions, in line with its global restructuring.